Vol. XXV. No. 4.] 
POPULAE SCIENCE NEWS. 
53 
of Ijouis Agassiz, as it is tlie eml)lem of his native 
land. Orders should be sent directly to Mr. Hay- 
ward, whose address is given above. 
THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM. 
The following note was recently received, and 
the information given in reply has been kindly 
furnished by Prof. C. A. Young, of Princeton. It 
should set the question at rest. 
Fredohia, N. Y., Jan. 22, 1891. 
Dear Sir : Many here persist in calling the planet Ve- 
nus, so brilliant now, the " Star o( Bethlehem"; and, upon 
correcting that mistake, the inquiry follows, " Has the Star 
of Bethlehem heen seen lately? " In "Astronomy with an 
Opera-Glass" (Appleton) we are told to watch the constel- 
lation Cassiopeia as the place of its possible reappearance. 
We have §eeu no statement from any competent astrono- 
mer. Any Information will be gladly received by 
Chapter 604, A. A. 
" There is absolutely no foundation for the very 
Ijrevalent notion that the Star of Bethlehem is 
soon to reappear, except the fancies of fanatics 
who are a great nuisance to astronomers. ITiere 
has been an attempt to identify the star of Tyoho 
Brahe, which appeared in 1572 in the constellation 
of Cassiopeia, with the miraculous star of the 
Gospels; but there is no reasonable probability 
that the identification is correct. There is also a 
notion th.at this temporary star is really a periodic 
variable with a period of about 315 years, the idea 
being based upon some vague notices in one old 
chronicle of such a star having been seen in the 
years 945 and 1264 ; and it is by reckoning back- 
ward and forward upon this basis that the cranks 
reach the conclusion that it appeared at the begin- 
ning of the Christian era, and that it would reap- 
pear in 1887 or thereabouts. 
" For some years now, every time that Venus has 
reached her greatest brilliance astronomers have 
been overwhelmed with inquiries whether the Star 
of Bethlehem has not reappeared. A few years 
ago the Astronomer Royal at Greenwich had a 
circular lithograped to send out to such inquirers, 
^Stating substantially what is given above. The 
best full discussion of the subject in relation to 
the Cassiopeia star, with which we are acquainted, 
is that by Flamraarion in his periodical, L" Astron- 
omie, in the number for last April."' 
Professor Young published a bi-ief article on the 
subject at about the same time, but before he had 
seen Flammarion"s article. It is in the Sunday 
School Times for April 12, 1890. 
[Written for " The Out-Door World."] 
OTTAWA HOUSES. 
BY DR. JI. L. LEACH, 
Member of the Agaisiz Association. 
The dwellings of the Ottawas were of various 
sizes and shapes, and were constructed of a vari- 
ety of materials. The most substantial and per- 
manent consisted of a frame of cedar poles, 
covered with cedar bark. One of these, called 
o-maw-gay-ko-gaw-mig, was square or oblong, 
with perpendicular walls, and a roof with a slope 
in opposite directions, like the simplest form of 
frame houses among white men. Another, the 
tke-no-<lay-we-gaw-mig, had perpendicular end 
Twalls, but the side walls in tlie upper part were 
Ebeut inward, meeting along the middle line, thus 
llorming the roof in the shai)e of a broad arch. 
iHouses of this kind were sometimes fifty or sixty 
fieet long, and had places for three fires. The ne- 
Isaw-wah-e-gun and the wah-ge-no-gawn were 
light but very serviceable houses, consisting of 
frames of poles covered with mats. The former 
fwas cone-shaped ; the latter was regularly convex 
Eat the top. The mats — ten or twelve feet long 
and three or four wide — were made of the long, 
slender leaves of the cat-tail flag (Typha), prop- 
erly cured and carefully sewed together. When 
suitably adjusted on the frames, with the edges 
lapping, they made a serviceable roof. Being 
light and, when rolled up, not inconvenient to 
carry, they were used for travelling-tents. Houses 
of mats were often used for winter residence in 
the woods, and were not uncomfortable. The 
ah-go-beem-wah-gun was a small summer house 
for j'oung men, usually constructed of cedar bark, 
on an elevated platform resting on posts, reached 
only by ascending a ladder. Winter houses in 
the woods were sometimes built of slabs or planks 
of split timber. They were often cone-shaped, 
and were made tight and warm. They were called 
pe-no-gawn.* In the woods, even in winter, they 
sometimes lived in temporary wigwams of ever- 
green boughs, which they managed to make com- 
fortable. 
Ottawa houses were without windows. The 
fire was built on the ground in the center, if the 
lodge was small; or there was a row of fires 
down the middle line in a long ke-no-day-we-gaw- 
mig. A hole in the roof above each fire served 
for the escape of the smoke. A raised platform — 
a foot or a foot and a half high — along the sides 
of the room, covered with mats, served for a seat 
during the day and for ii sleeping place at night. 
The mats, some of them beautifully ornamented 
with colors, were made of rushes found growing 
in shallow lakes, ingeniously woven together with 
twine manufactured from the bark of t;ie slippery 
elm. 
*A11 these names of Indian houses are pronounced with 
the accent on the last syllable. In Ottawa words g has the 
hard sound. 
•♦v 
THE EEGAL ASPECTS OF HYPNOTISM. 
The recent Paris trial has given a new impulse 
to tlje study of this important subject. At the 
February meeting of the Medico-Legal Society, 
New York, the President, Clark Bell, Esq., re- 
quested Prof. E. P. Thwing, M. D., Ph. D., of 
Brooklyn, to introduce the discussion. The fol- 
lowing is an abstract of his address : 
The literature of the subject is opulent. Tlie 
number of repvitable investigators increases. 'J'aken 
out of the hands of thofee whose aijns and methods 
cast discredit on it, hypnotism is studied by mem- 
bers of each of the learned professions, vitally re- 
lated as it is to the interests of which they are the 
natural custodians. It is safe to say that these 
facts are established : 
1. Hypnosis, or artificial, trance sleep, is a sub- 
jective phenomenon. Here modern science joins 
issue with old-time mesmerism — the theory of 
some mysterious efflux from the operator. Hyp- 
nosis may be self-induced through expectation 
alone, through fright, by religious ecstasy, or any 
enrapturing emotion. 
2. Hypnosis is not in itself a disease. Xeur6tic 
conditions predispose one to the trance sleep, but 
the strongest minds have also been enthralled. 
Their recorded visions have been an open book 
for centuries. 
.3. Hypnosis is recognized in three stages — 
lethargy, somnambulism, and catalepsy. The 
transition may be immediate. The second is in- 
stantly induced in trained sensitives. 
4. Hypnosis has been serviceable in medical 
and surgical jjractice, both as a therapeutic agent 
and in some cases as an efficient and safe anaes- 
thetic. 
5. The illusory impressions created by hypno- 
sis may be made to dominate and tyrannize the 
subsequent actions of the subject. 
The following legal aspects present themselves : 
1. Has the sensitive sought the operator, or 
has the operator used undue influence to gain 
control of him? 
2. Are proper witnesses present ? 
3. Are possible elements of error eliminated, 
such as self-deception, simulation, and malinger- 
ing? 
4. Is hypnosis a justifiable inquisitorial agent? 
No. 
5. Do we need a reconstruction of the laws of 
evidence in view of the perversion, visual or other- 
wise, created by the trance? No. 
6. Is any revision of the penal code desirable 
in view of these facts? No. 
Finally, should there be legal surveillance over 
private experiments or public exhibitions? Yes. 
The Board of Health in Cinciimati did not over- 
step the bounds in suppressing shows in this line 
carried on for amusement and gain by travelling 
troupes. 
Letters from Judge H. R. Gibson, Prof. William 
.lames of Harvard, and Professor Ladd of Yale 
were read, agreeing in the main with the report 
of the committee as drawn up by Professor 
Thwing. 
[Our readers will find a contrary opinion in re- 
gard to the action of the Cincinnati Board of 
Health among the editorial notes in the March 
issue.— Ed. P. S. N.] 
THE ANATOMY OF NATIONAL LIFE. 
In a recent address on "Oriental Thought," Dr. 
E. P. Thwing, of the Royal Asiatic Society, dis- 
cussed the genesis of thought and character in 
the East, and put as initial elements of the analy- 
sis the physical factors revealed in the geographi- 
cal position of a continent, its climate, scenery, 
soil, productions, and kindred facts. Some one 
has said that "the Gulf Stream gave Europe its 
civilization," and Dr. Coan, of the Hawaiian Is- 
lands, says that the occlusion of the Pacific at 
Behring .Straits has made Polynesia what it is. 
The presence of volcanic and seismic disturbances 
as related to the disproportionate development of 
the imagination is another curious fact, first sug- 
gested by Buckle. Thermal extremes as related 
to industrial interruptions, and so to moral insta- 
bility, is another suggestive fact entering into the 
analysis of national character. The need of the 
study of physical geography and correlated sub- 
jects is fund.amental. Only by a careful analysis 
is a true synthesis reached, and so a rational sci- 
ence of human civilization. 
This is the best time of year to organize new 
Cliapters of the A. A. 
Repouts from the Fifth Century (Chapters 401- 
500) should reach the President by May 1. 
Please put us down as one of the Chapters 
willing to answer all letters or postal-cards sent 
by Chapters or members of the Agassiz Associa- 
tion. The subjects in which we are most inter- 
ested at present are botany and entomology. 
Letters may be addressed to the Secretary or to 
Chapter 495, A. A., Box 323, Rye, N. Y.— Mary R. 
Breckenridge, Sec. 
[Owing to the death of a relative of Mr. Ballard, 
to whom we extend our sincere symjiathy, we are 
obliged to fill the remainder of "The Out-Door 
World" this month with miscellaneous matter, 
and have endeavored to select that which will be 
of special interest to the members of the Agassiz 
Association. — Ed. P. S. N.] 
